Thursday, February 9, 2012

Today, I REALLY Missed Being a Teacher

I'm baaaaaack.

Truth is, I've been back for awhile now.  14 days to be exact.  But I've been running around like a chicken with my head cut off, trying to figure out life as a full-time working mama, and I'm FINALLY getting around to the word "Blog!" on my To-Do list.

Man, what in the WORLD would I do without To-Do lists these days?!

So obviously, I've had my baby (the most perfect little girl in the WHOLE world, but I'm not biased AT all!), spent three and a half blissful months learning how in the world to be a parent, and now I'm back in the real world of working.  It was so, so hard leaving her after being around her all day, everyday, for 15 straight weeks.  But luckily for me, I LOVE my job and, even moreso, LOVE the people I work with - so the transition went much better than I thought it would.

So THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to the incredible staff, students, and parents of Moore for welcoming me back with open arms.  The hugs, the encouraging words, the smiles, the notes... It all helped me get through those first few days when all I could think about was missing my sweet girl.

Coming back to work has reminded me how much I do enjoy my job.  Most of you know I was a classroom teacher for five years before becoming the Curriculum Coordinator.  I absolutely, positively LOVED teaching - but after five years of teaching third grade, I was ready for a change.  This job presented itself, and I thought, "How cool!  I can try to impact elementary-aged kids from an entirely different perspective."  While there are many, many times (like now!) that I am so, so busy tackling the day-to-day tasks of Curriculum Coordinator duties (especially when it comes to testing!), I sometimes have the opportunity to get back to classrooms to teach or work with small groups of students.

As I said, unfortunately, right now I'm playing catch up from being out with my little girl AND administering testing sessions, so I can't exercise my love of teaching.

However, I am able to visit classrooms as an observer while doing my classroom walkthroughs.

And today, I was blown away by the teaching and learning I saw.  I LOVED what the teachers were doing, how students were interacting, the conversations that were taking place.  I was in AWE of the level of thinking going on, the student-guided lessons, the obvious planning that had been done.  I mean, I REALLY missed being a teacher today!!  I almost wanted to jump right in, put back on my teacher shoes, and see if I could still do it!  But, duty calls, so I just had to hold in my excitement and move on to the next task at hand.

But man, to my teachers in the building, you guys are ROCKING IT!  I know you're overwhelmed, and tired, and your plates are oh-so-full... but learning is obviously going on in your rooms, and I think you're all doing a fabulous job.

Now, off to tackle this To-Do list and get my head back in the game so that I can get back to some of these classrooms and be that TEACHER I miss being!

Don't Forget!
*Now - March 16th - ACCESS Testing
*February 27th - April 27th - DIBELS Progress Monitoring
*February 14th - WSFCS Science Fair (Good luck Syan!)
*February 17th - WSFCS Spelling Bee (Good luck Chloe!)
*February 27th - Milkshake Drinking Contest (Go me!)
*February 28th - QSP Magazine Fundraiser Begins!
*March 6th - Multicultural Night